HELP!. BuGS IT iS! **New PIC on bottom of pg 1**

[Pharm Girl]

Not my day I guess. My BO has been sitting on the nesting box all day, so I finally removed her and gave her a once over. Her belly is all red and angry. She's missing all her belly feathers, but there are none in the nest! I looked as hard and long as I could and can't find a single live bug on her. My child has had lice once, so I'm pretty good at finding nits and knowing what they look like. Our old mouse had mites, so I know I can find those too.
At first I though she was just broody and feather plucking, but then noticed she has some scaly areas in her belly feathers as well. I plan to bathe her and maybe put some petroleum jelly on it?
What do you guys think? Bugs or Broody????? Why would she be scaly?

Red angry belly NOT chest area, NOT vent area.

Scaly area

 

[Ridgerunner]

Check her for roost mites, sometimes called chicken mites. These hide during the day and come out at night. They will run from the light, so don't waste a lot of time looking for them, usually in the vent area, when you start looking.

Roost mites are a real danger to a broody hen.

 

[Pharm Girl]

Well, so far she's not broody, but maybe she's heading that way. I snuck out with a flashlight last night and didn't see anything alarming, though it's so hard to get to her vent through all the fluff and poo. I'll give he a bath today and look again tonight. Her belly looked less red last night, so maybe she did pluck out her feathers. What I don't get is the large scaly patches on her skin though. Hmmm.
I'll keep trying!

 

[mlward]

Hmmm, I was just checking to see if anyone had issues like this. I just noticed that one of my BO hens has a bare belly. She is 1 year old and not broody. I do have another BO hen setting one eggs next to a brahma hen. But hers isn't red and scaly at all. No scabbing or irritated looking areas; just bare. Did a quick once over while I was walking to the house with her and didn't see anything mite or lice related, but will look again closer. Just a quick glance at the rest of the flock and I didn't see where any of the others has a similar issue, but I'll check each one individually here in a minute. She is eating, drinking & talking to me like always, but DOES seem to be preening alot. Maybe something I've missed? Anybody else have an idea what might cause this? Thanks.

 

[mlward]

Okay, upon closer inspection I found that there appears to be eggs attached to the base of the feathers around the vent area, so lice I assume? None of my other chickens have bare areas, but I haven't picked each up to look for actual infestation. Guess I'm making a trip to TSC to get .... something. From what I've read on here, there is a myriad of choices. Hmmm...

 

[Pharm Girl]

Good luck on this, I may research further to see if she has the same. What do the eggs attached to the base of the feathers look like?

 

[mlward]

Well, they're hard to miss actually. I found them right around the vent area, silverish-grayish little eggs stuck to the base of several of the feather next to the skin. And I went up into the coop after dark when the chickens were roosting to check for mites and look the others over. Couldn't find any signs of nits or bare spots on the juvenile wyandottes, but the rooster and a couple of the other orps have lice. My rooster is a brahma with feather feet and I have been battling an issue with his cute little feet being red and even bloodied, with the feathers picked and broken. I've been cleaning them and wrapping them, thinking the other chickens were pecking at him. Now, looking back, I realize he probably has been picking at himself because of the bugs.

Poor little guy! Well, off to move a couple broody girls I have with their nests and do the "big clean-out"! Glad it's gonna be a nice day here in NY!

 

[Pharm Girl]

Well good luck with all of that! I seriously can't find a bug on any of my birds, which is good, but doesn't explain the red picked clean belly. I gave her a bath and stuck her under the heat lamp in the chick brooder to dry out. Maybe she's just going broody, but I'm keeping my eye out for bugs just the same!
No fun fighting those buggers. Best to you..

 

[mlward]

Just got back from the farm supply and they had the Esprinex. Expensive stuff, but it will be quicker & more effective. And with a shelf life of 2 years if properly stored, I'll have the stuff FOREVER!

I have a question about the dosing though. Gonna read back thru some of the posts and see if I can get an idea. I have the standard size (orps), the bantams (brahmas) and the juvenile wyandottes that are almost 3 months. Need to figure out how much to give everybody.

Well, out to move the broody girls and disinfect the coop...

Oh, and at some point, I'll figure out how to load pics on this site. Seems somewhat convoluted with the

 

[Pharm Girl]

OK, I inspected the vent area on my EE and noticed little buggies on her feathers around the vent. My black australorp has the feathers missing on her belly and now I can see them on my BO. I took a piece of masking tape and pressed it on the bugs to get a sample and see what I am dealing with. Looks like lice to me, though I'm no expert.
Now what? Is the lice treatment different than mite treatment? Or are these mites??